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Friday, 6 March 2015

Matthew 5: Are you hungry and thirsty?!

Hello dear friends! Can you believe it? Another week almost over and hopefully we're heading closer to Spring! My favourite time of year, with summer coming a very close second. Winter is definitely NOT a time I look forward to so I'm glad to be able to move out of it and into the brighter days of a new season of growth and life!

In Matthew 5 (the beginning of Christ's Sermon on the Mount), there are so many verses that we can learn lessons from and I'm sure the Lord will have spoken to you in different ways than He has to me. I'd love to hear what you learned from this chapter (or any others). There was one verse that really challenged me and it is verse 6 (one of the Beatitudes), "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." Obviously, this is not to do with physical hunger and thirst but rather spiritual. This verse teaches that, if we long for and desire to get to know Christ better and to live a spiritually richer and more fulfilling life, then He will fill us with those riches.

Look at these verses that talk about fulfillment in Christ:

Psalm 42:1, "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God."

Psalm 34:10, "The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want (need or lack) any good thing."

Isaiah 49:10, "They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for He that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall He guide them."

John 6:35, "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst."

Our spiritual needs (i.e. righteousness) are supplied in Christ, needs such as a closer walk with Him, integrity, virtue, purity of life, love, mercy towards others; basically, anything that is good and brings glory to God. Matthew 6:33 says that we are not to worry about the everyday needs of life such as food or clothing; God will supply these needs. But we ARE to concern ourselves with spiritual needs first and foremost. If we seek the Lord and His kingdom first, then all else will fall into place. In other words, we must get our priorities right.

The first part of verse 6 pronounces a blessing upon those who have a desire and longing after God; the second part is a promise from God as to what He will do for these people - He will fill them. God isn't stingy or mean towards His people; rather, He provides with abundance! He gives more than we could ever hope for. There is no satisfaction in the things of the world; we need to keep replenishing those needs. That's why when we buy something, or eat something, or drink something, or do something, trying to fill a spiritual need with a physical answer, we are sadly disappointed and have to keep trying something more or something else. Not so when we seek a spiritual answer to a spiritual need. God fills His people with

Abundance (Psalm 23:5)

Goodness (Psalm 104:28)

Joy (Psalm 126:2)

Godliness (Ephesians 3:19)

Think about the things you ask the Lord for in your prayers - is it more money, clothes, a good time, etc? Or is it wisdom, grace, love, peace, joy?

Prayer matters:

Ask the Lord to give you the right heart desires, to get your priorities right

Ask Him to help you look to Him for satisfaction instead of to the world

Ask Him to help you to look ahead and see what really matters in this world; remember riches, beauty, clothes will not matter or help you when you face a test or trial. It will be a deep knowledge of Christ, peace in your heart, joy, grace and patience that will help see you through the hard times

Have a good weekend and we'll see you back here on Monday.
Hugs Karen x

Hi Jean, I apologize, I was trying to find your email address so that I could reply to you privately but couldn't get it. It just took me through to Google+ but no address.I'm sure you'll appreciate that I am not a theologian, just an ordinary woman sharing my thoughts about what I have learned from the Word of God, but I can tell you about my own experiences!I was christened as a baby and brought up in a church where unfortunately I didn't hear the Gospel. I wasn't really interested in church at all or my soul's need of Christ and salvation until I heard the gospel at the age of 17. I repented of my sin and trusted in the Lord Jesus as my Saviour. At first I didn't feel any urgency to be baptized but as I grew in my faith and learned more about what was required of me as a Christian, the next step was to openly declare my faith to others and be accountable to others as a Christian. So I was baptized in my early 20's. The christening as a baby meant nothing to me but when I was baptized I believe I was following God's command for me. I know that there are a lot of different views in the various church denominations regarding baptism such as infant/adult baptism and sprinkling/full immersion but my own opinion is that it is something you have to ask the Lord for clarity and leading on. Our church does not force the issue one way or the other as there a few different personal opinions. We believe it is not something one Christian should fall out with another one over but I would say that if you are a member of a particular denomination and they have a certain viewpoint which they hold to, then as a member of that church then you should be in submission to their authority. Of course, this is all just my humble opinion, but I would pray about this and ask the Lord to guide you in the right way that is pleasing to Him. I hope this has been of some help.Karen x

Glorious Autumn

See God's glory in the beautiful colours surrounding us!

A place of rest...

...where the soul can find refreshment and comfort

Welcome!

When you visit this blog, I'd like you to find 'a place of rest', where your soul can be refreshed from the Scriptures. I will be Blogging through the Bible and sharing with you what I learn from the Word of God, but I would also encourage you to follow through on your own and maybe even share with me what you are learning. It is a wonderful thing to be able to grow in grace and to do this we need to soak ourselves in the Word, dig deep into its treasures, learn from it and share it with others. I trust that the Lord will bless us abundantly as we walk with Him each day!

I also have a craft blog called Stampinperfectpeace if you'd like to pop over there for a visit too.